The Lone Hunt (A Mash-up)
by Lone-wolf916
Summary: This is the sequel to Night Hunt. It includes romance, betrayal, action, vampires and werewolves. Based of the books by L.L. Raand.
1. Chapter 1

__Alright guys here is the next book, just a quick reminder that this is an adaption of a book so there will be other story lines besides spashley. Enjoy__

__Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing about this story... the writing is all L.L. Raand's and the Characters are from various television shows (South of Nowhere, The O.C., Orange is the New Black, Lost Girl, The Fosters, and The L Word) Credit goes completely to all listed above.__

**Rated M**

* * *

Alex stalked the human servant down the silent corridor into the depths of Liege Stef Foster's lair. Hunger forced a flood of feeding hormones into her mouth. Her canines lengthened and throbbed. Her clitoris tensed in anticipation of having Captain Roberts, head of security for the Night Hunters—Stef's Clan and one of the most powerful Dominions in the world—helpless beneath her. Alex envisioned the brunette submitting to her, imagined inducing the arrogant human to writhe in the throes of bloodlust, of driving her to orgasm with her bite. Her predator instinct surged. She growled, her wolf rising, eager for the claiming.

"You should cage that wolf," Roberts said without turning, her stride nearly as sensuous as the glide of a Vampire. "You dishonor your master with your lack of control."

"I am no one's slave." Alex leapt, her claws slicing the back of Roberts' tight black T-shirt before the human twisted aside, surprising her with her speed and agility.

Roberts spun to face her, the blade she carried in a sheath strapped to her muscular thigh now in her right hand. Silver glinted in the double-edged weapon—a Were killer. "I will feed your Vampire with pleasure, but your wolf will die on my blade."

Alex crouched, her wolf eyes glinting amber, her bones and muscles sliding, shifting, morphing. "I will take what I want, when I want it."

"No," Roberts said softly, "you won't. You are more than Were now. You are Vampire."

Alex shuddered, caught in the dark swirls of Roberts' russet eyes. Her nipples tensed, and tawny pelt streaked down the cleft between the rigid columns of her abdominals. The deep glands surrounding the base of her clitoris filled and she wanted to fuck. Fuck and feed. Instincts laced with pain and mindless need. "Get away from me."

"No. I do not fear you." Roberts smiled, her mouth twisted in arrogant challenge. "I want to feed you."

"Why?" Alex growled, her vocal cords thickened with the change.

"Because I can. Come with me, Warlord." Roberts turned and walked on. Her flesh was scored with shallow pink gouges beneath the torn black shirt, but she was nearly healed. She wasn't immortal like the ethereal Vampires she served, but her raw power and sexual allure were nearly as potent.

_Warlord_. The word cut through the frenzy clouding Alex's senses. She had once been _centuri_, one of the elite guard protecting the wolf Were Alpha. Now she was a Vampire's general, the commander of an army on the verge of war. She had lost her Pack, her station, and her honor when she had died and been resurrected as a Vampire, but she could still fight. She could still kill the enemies who had taken everything.

Alex gathered her will and forced her wolf to withdraw. She would not let Roberts witness her loss of control, would not let Roberts have the satisfaction of goading her into sex frenzy. Roberts might be faster, stronger, more resistant to injury than an ordinary human, but she was still human. And Alex would not let a human hold power over her, even when the human offered her blood and sex, all that she now craved. "You will not need your blade, Capitaine. It is your blood we will spill."

A fine shudder ran through Roberts' muscular body. The pleasure of the Vampire's bite was magnified a thousand times for those of her line. She had been born to answer a Vampire's call, the urge to sustain her master's lineage with the unique chemicals in her blood a primal instinct. And Alex was of her master's blood. She ached to feed her. She slid the blade into the leather sheath with a flick of her wrist, so fast only a Praetern could have followed the motion. "Come, Vampire. Take what I offer."

Alex was beside her in an instant, her claws pressing into Roberts' lower back. She smelled Roberts' need, rich and verdant. She sensed the beat of her heart, strong and seductive. "Hurry. I want you in my mouth."

Roberts' hands trembled as she opened the door with a key she withdrew from a pocket in her leather pants. Alex followed her into one of the many chambers in the underground stronghold where Foster and her consort, and Foster's Vampire soldiers, spent the daylight hours guarded by their human servants.

The dim room was warm and windowless. A large bed filled the space, centered on the wall opposite the door. Silky dark-chocolate sheets covered the surface, and a row of matching satin pillows was piled against the mahogany headboard. A royal blue brocade settee, angled in one corner as if waiting for a third participant to arrive, was the only other piece of furniture. The room held no dressers, no night tables, no armoires. Just the bed and the empty settee. A space for feeding—for blood and sex and pleasure-pain. Alex's thighs tensed as her wolf surged again, long denied but still strong. Still eager to hunt.

Taking a breath, keeping a short leash on the prowling predator raging to chase, to capture, to take, Alex closed the door behind her and forced herself to wait while the human walked to the side of the bed and methodically began to disrobe. As humans went, Roberts was attractive—as elegant and beautiful as any of the Vampire guard who answered to her. Strange that a human should hold such a lofty position as head of a Dominion's security forces, but Alex did not know all the political nuances of the Vampire world in which she suddenly found herself. Wolf packs were controlled not by politics, but by power alone. The Alpha ruled through sheer force of will, cunning, and physical dominance. Before she was turned, Alex had succumbed on occasion to the seductive thrall of a Vampire's power and experienced blood ecstasy herself. Like many Weres, she enjoyed the intense pleasure accompanying a Vampire's bite, but she had always distrusted the Vampire alliances that shifted as easily as a battle won or lost, where trusts were betrayed for fleeting advantage. She walked on the side of the Vampires because she had no choice. She was one of them now, and better to fight where she had a place than to die a slow death every day among the Weres, where she no longer belonged.

Alex locked the door.

Roberts stripped off her tattered shirt and turned to Alex, her high breasts gleaming in the slanting glow of lights tucked away, unseen, in corners. Her muscled abdomen rose and fell in shallow bursts. Her arousal skated over Alex's tongue and flooded her throat with pheromones. Alex's canines jutted, elongating, scraping the tender inner surface of her lower lip. She tasted her own blood, subtly changed. A metallic undertone tingled in her throat. Her sex glands bulged, full and ready, forcing her engorged clitoris to extrude. The red haze of bloodlust curtained her vision. It would be easy, so easy, to surrender and take what had been offered. The host had come willingly, agreeing to feed her, making no demands, giving no restrictions.

She was free to take—to plunge her canines into the etched column of Roberts' throat, to drink her ferrous-rich blood until her cells were empowered, until her sex throbbed, full and potent. Until she was satisfied.

"You should have a second," Alex said. Her wolf rose to the call of blood just as her Vampire parts thirsted, and she could not hold her back completely. Roberts was not safe without a guard of her own if Alex lost control.

"I need no second." Roberts unstrapped her knife sheath and tossed it onto the brocade settee, out of reach, a deliberate show of confidence and superiority. "I can meet all your needs."

Alex leapt and dug her claws into Roberts' naked shoulders, forcing her down onto the bed. She straddled Roberts' hips, pressing her torso to the bed with extended arms. She didn't draw blood yet—once she did, she wouldn't stop. She dropped her head over Roberts' face, the curtain of her own blonde hair framing Roberts' high cheekbones and arched jaw. The pulse of Roberts' blood beneath the unblemished skin of her throat was a siren's call. She flashed her canines and Roberts gasped. "You don't know what I need."

"You're wrong." Roberts gripped Alex's black BDUs and tore them down the length of her thighs on both sides.

"Am I?" Centering her hand on Roberts' chest, Alex raised up enough to pull off the shreds of her pants. Her sex throbbed in time with her heart, driving all thoughts save one from her consciousness. _Take her. Take her_. Alex rumbled a warning.

"Yes," Roberts whispered, sweat beading in the hollow of her throat. She reached between them and peeled the leather from her hips. Bowing beneath Alex, she angled her hips and rubbed against Alex's lower body. She was wet, her flesh hot and open. Fingers digging into the hard muscles of Alex's ass, she arched her neck, exposing the great vessels that pulsed vibrantly beneath the surface of her slick skin. "Take my blood. Take my body. I am ready."

Alex snarled. This human sought to control her by offering what made her weak. She needed blood. She craved sex. She ached to lose herself in the taking. And if she did, she would give up what little power she still had. She gathered Roberts' wrists in one hand and pinned her arms above her head. As strong as Roberts was, she was stronger—she could rip her throat open, tear her heart from her chest, bleed her dry. Slowly, body quivering with the effort to control her bloodlust, to contain the sex frenzy, Alex lowered her head until the points of her canines indented Roberts' skin but did not break through.

"Beg me," Alex whispered. _Don't let me kill you._

Roberts struggled for sanity in the cloud of pheromones seducing her senses—rich wolf Were stimulants flooded her blood, Vampire thrall enticed her very cells. Every inch of her screamed for the Vampire bite that would transport her, for the Were body that would release her. Never had she ached so much to be bitten, to be drunk, to be filled. To be fucked.

"Oh God." Roberts groaned and wrapped her legs around Alex's hips, forcing her tense clitoris against Alex's. "Please. Bite me. Fill me. I need. Oh God, I need."

Alex's eyes glowed the amber of her Wolf shot through with flame as she drove her Vampire canines into Roberts' throat, releasing the erotostimulants that turned pain into pleasure, transformed sacrifice to scorching satisfaction. Roberts cried out and orgasmed, her sex throbbing against Alex's.

Alex swallowed, her cells expanding with the rush of life, her clitoris taut, swollen, pounding for release. She thrust her hips and slipped between Roberts' drenched folds, sliding easily into her cleft, lodging there, tight and hot.

Roberts thrashed, another orgasm crashing through her. She scored Alex's back with her nails, the distant pain a grace note to the agonizing pleasure. Alex thrust and swallowed, thrust and swallowed, taking life with every swallow, releasing her essence with every thrust, the _victus_ thick and rich with borrowed life. She shuddered, close, so close to the final shattering release her wolf craved. Her skin burned, her breath tore from her in tortured sobs. She couldn't empty, couldn't find the ultimate satisfaction without—

Alex's need called to Roberts as her masters' had called to those of her line for millennia. She tightened her grip on Alex's shoulders and jolted upward, sinking her teeth into Alex's shoulder, breaking the skin, drawing blood.

A shaft of pain arrowed into the deepest reaches of Alex's sex and she exploded, her glands emptying, her clitoris spasming in the depths of Roberts' flesh. Roberts sucked at the bite she'd made and came again.

Alex pulled her head away, yanking her shoulder free from Roberts's mouth. Roberts moaned, nearly unconscious, deep in the thrall, mindless with pleasure. Alex's clitoris still pulsed under Roberts', a tender knot forming mid-shaft. Roberts' bite had triggered her wolf's instinct to join. "No!"

Alex staggered to her feet, Roberts' blood and hers running in rivulets down her chest, over her breasts, matting the dusting of pelt down the center of her abdomen. Somehow Roberts had known what her wolf needed. What she needed. More than blood, more than sex. A joining that could never be hers. Empowered with Roberts' blood, her wolf did not recognize the truth. She would never mate. Weres mated for life, and she was already dead. Alex threw the sheet over Roberts, paced to the door, and flipped the lock.

With sunfall still an hour away, she should be tired, but she wasn't. She was Vampire, but she was Were, and she needed more than blood. Needed more than the bite of the human she did not want. She spun around, pulled the door open, and bounded into the corridor, her wolf breaking its chains at last. Her vision grayed into the sharp lens of the predator. A human guard. By a door at the end of the hall. She smelled sunshine beyond that door. Beyond that door a staircase led to the outside, led to freedom. Naked, covered in blood and sex-sheen and _victus_, she leapt the length of the hall toward the guard. His eyes widened and his dark face turned ashen, but he stood his ground, his automatic weapon still holstered on his thigh. Brave man.

"Step aside, Human, or you will die."

"I have orders that no one leaves until moonrise, Warlord," he said, his voice raspy.

"You will obey me, soldier, or you will die this day."

"The sun has not yet fallen. Roberts ordered—"

Alex grasped him by the neck and tethered him to the wall, his feet ten inches off the floor, his face less than a breath from hers.

"I am the Warlord of the Liege's armies. I am your master. You take your orders from me."

"Yes, Warlord," he wheezed through the thin column of air she allowed him to suck in. "But the sun—"

"I am not afraid of the sun." She wasn't sure how she knew, but she did. The daylight was not her enemy. "While I am gone, you will see that no one approaches Liege Foster's quarters. No one enters the Liege's chambers except Roberts until I return. Not for any reason. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Warlord."

"Open the barricades." She let him down, and he nearly fell but regained his feet and snapped a salute, fist to chest.

"Yes, Warlord."

He punched numbers into a keypad, pressed his palm to a plate on the wall, and stared into a retina scanner. Locks ratcheted open and the reinforced steel door slid soundlessly aside. She bolted through, up the stairs, and into another long corridor. A soldier at the far end held another door open as the last shafts of sunlight flickered outside, refusing to surrender to the night. For the first time since she'd been turned, Alex felt her Wolf ascend, body and spirit, and she let her come. By the time she soared through the camouflaged exit and out into the street, she was in full pelt and ready to hunt.


	2. Chapter 2

__Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing about this story... the writing is all L.L. Raand's and the Characters are from various television shows (South of Nowhere, The O.C., Orange is the New Black, Lost Girl, The Fosters, and The L Word) Credit goes completely to all listed above.__

**Rated M**

* * *

"I feel fine," Zee said, looking as if she was about to jump off the examining table. "I need to get back to the labs."

"I'll decide when you're ready to return to duty." Spencer folded her arms in front of her chest and deliberately moved into the young lieutenant's personal space. Zee, naked except for her jeans, still showed signs of injury despite having shifted to pelt after being caught in the explosion that had leveled the research wing at Davies Industries that morning. Her right shoulder and neck were bruised and swollen, and traces of debris remained embedded in a latticework of lacerations that trailed down her bare arms. Her shift had been too short or the damage too severe for her wolf to heal completely. Zee was the head of security, and she had to be feeling responsible for the explosion. She wasn't at fault, but try telling a dominant wolf she couldn't control everyone and everything within her sphere. A fruitless task. Spencer ought to know, she was mated to the Alpha wolf. She dealt with the challenge of trying to reason with a Were driven by instinct on a daily basis. "You're not going anywhere just yet."

Zee rumbled low in her chest, not a challenge, but a sign of displeasure and irritation. Spencer could live with that. After all, she could hardly expect a wolf like Zee to roll over and give her throat at the first sign of a harsh word. She eased back an inch, giving Zee's wolf room to stretch. "Now, let me see you raise your arm."

"Really, Prima," Zee said, her tone a fraction more conciliatory as she lifted her injured right arm. "I just twisted it. I've had worse on a hunt."

"That may be." Spencer slid her palm under Zee's elbow and grasped her wrist with the other hand. She'd learned very quickly after her transition from human to wolf Were that the one thing every wolf understood and accepted was the law of the Pack. And, as the Alpha's mate, she was at the top of the Pack in rank and power. "But since I'm the doctor here, let's let me make the decision."

Zee sighed. "Yes, Prima."

Smothering her smile, Spencer ranged the shoulder, elbow, and wrist. Zee—blond haired, blue eyed, chiseled and muscular like all of Ashley's soldiers—sat implacably, but Spencer felt the thrum of tension streak through Zee's frame as she stressed the shoulder gently. "You've got a tear in the tendons around your shoulder."

"It's just a little sore," Zee muttered.

"I imagine that it is." Spencer carefully released Zee's arm and walked behind the table to look at her back. The skin over the broad muscles was shredded. Not serious, but painful. The shoulder was a different story. "You'll need to shift and stay in pelt the rest of the night to heal these wounds and get your shoulder back in shape."

"But, Prima," Zee said, twisting on the table to look in Spencer's direction, "I need to get back to the lab to secure the area and begin our search. We're not even sure there aren't more devices in the rest of the buildings."

Zee's eyes rose to Spencer's. The challenge was unintentional, but Spencer growled nevertheless. Without iron discipline, a Pack of Weres ruled by primal instinct would splinter into chaos. Zee immediately ducked her head.

"If you delay your healing," Spencer said, "you may have permanent damage in the shoulder. I doubt the Alpha would be pleased to find her lab's head of security functioning at less than a hundred percent."

Zee's chin shot up, but she wisely did not meet Spencer's eyes. "I would never give the Alpha less than my best."

"Of that, I have no doubt. And that's why I want you in pelt, in your quarters, until morning." She put command in her voice, her tone sending the same message a curled lip and lowered ears would have if she was in pelt—the warning of a dominant wolf to a lesser member of the Pack to mind her place.

Zee sucked in a breath. "Yes, Prima."

Spencer slipped her palm behind Zee's neck and squeezed, the comfort of her touch reminding Zee that she was an important part of the Pack and important to Spencer. "You did well today. You guarded the Alpha's back, and you saw that your Packmates were safe. You've done your duty, and in a few hours, you can resume."

"Thank you, Prima," Zee murmured, shivering slightly under Spencer's touch. Wolves needed the physical comfort of their packmates, especially their leaders. At first, Spencer had found the casual physical affection disconcerting, and on occasion, when it involved Ashley, more than that. Ashley was her mate, and even though Ashley constantly reasserted her authority and her dominance by touching her wolves, no one, Praetern or human, would touch Ashley without Spencer's permission. _Ashley_. A wave of electricity rippled over Spencer's skin and she stepped back.

"The Alpha is coming," Spencer said, sensing Ashley's approach through the unique bond all mated Weres shared. Her pulse quickened and her body readied. "I'll be sure to let her know you'll be back on duty tomorrow."

Zee jumped down from the table and picked up her shirt, not bothering to put it on. Most wolves rarely bothered with clothes when in the Compound. "Thank you, Prima."

The door swung open and Ashley strode in, bringing with her a surge of power that washed over Spencer's skin like the heat of a furnace. Muscles danced beneath the sleek surface of Ashley's naked torso, her bronze skin gleamed with a sheen of pheromones, and gold shimmered in her mahogany eyes. She was more wolf in skin than many lesser Weres in pelt. Her gaze skimmed Zee.

"Alpha," Zee said, her tone a salute.

"How are you, Lieutenant?"

"Fine, Alpha."

Ashley's attention moved to Spencer, a question in her eyes.

"The lieutenant's on the mend, Alpha," Spencer said. "By tomorrow she'll be fine."

"Good. When you return to duty," Ashley said, "organize teams and begin the search through the rubble. It's doubtful we'll find any physical clues as to who planted the devices, but any remnants of the bombs might help us identify them in the future. I've suspended operations until we can examine all the wreckage."

"I could get started sooner," Zee said, "with the Prima's permission, of course."

Spencer shook her head.

"As the Prima commands," Ashley said, her tone leaving no room for discussion.

"Yes, Alpha," Zee said, a sigh escaping as she departed.

Ashley grinned as the door closed behind the security chief. "I take it she's not happy about being stood down?"

"She is your wolf," Spencer said. "She's not happy unless she's in the thick of the hunt, but she's not yet fit for duty. She will be."

"Are you all right?" Ashley murmured, skimming her hand under the back of Spencer's T-shirt and up between her shoulder blades, tugging Spencer tightly into her body.

Spencer slid an arm around Ashley's shoulders and kissed her. She hadn't seen her for over an hour, and even a few minutes' separation was intolerable now that she was pregnant. Even before she'd been pregnant, with their mate bond so new, she was physically uncomfortable whenever Ashley was out of sight. The constant need to touch her was all-consuming. And only hours before, Ashley had been in mortal danger. They hadn't been alone since the explosion—she hadn't had time to reassure her wolf that her mate was safe. Spencer rumbled and rubbed her cheek on Ashley's. "I'm all right now that you're here."

Ashley grazed Spencer's neck with her canines and buried her face in the curve of Spencer's shoulder, drawing deeply of Spencer's midnight-and-oak scent, absorbing her heat, tasting the pheromones that coated her skin—centered by the unique chemicals that called only to her. Spencer was her mate, her strength, her life. "I love you."

Spencer slid her fingers through Ashley's hair and tugged her head up until their eyes met. "I love you…and you're going to need to learn to be more careful, Alpha."

Ashley grinned her infuriating grin, the cocky lift at one corner of her wide, generous mouth that said she'd do exactly what she wanted because, after all, she was the Alpha. "You don't need to worry."

Spencer nipped at Ashley's lip hard enough to taste the potent pheromones Ashley released when she was aroused. "Do you think I can't make you?"

Growling low in her throat, Ashley lifted Spencer and turned her until Spencer's back was against the door and Ashley's hips were tight into her crotch. Spencer wrapped her legs around Ashley's ass and her arms around Ashley's shoulders, tilting her head back to give Ashley her neck. She wasn't submitting, she was inviting.

"You think you can control me?" Ashley grumbled, her voice thick and heavy as her wolf rose to her mate's challenge. She licked Spencer's neck and bit lightly. Beneath her, Spencer's abdomen pressed against hers, and inside, Spencer carried their young. Ashley worshiped her as the mother of her young and exalted in a mate who challenged her in every way.

"I would never want to control you," Spencer said, fisting both hands in Ashley's chestnut hair. "I would only ever want to love you."

Gold eclipsed the chocolate in Ashley's irises and the bones in her face shifted until the elegant arches and curves became lethally sharp, brutally beautiful. Her canines lengthened, and the press of her sex grew heavy and hard between Spencer's legs.

"I would take you back to our den," Ashley said, "and take you slowly, all night long. I'd show you how much I love you. But—"

"I know," Spencer said, pushing one hand between them and hooking her fingers inside the waistband of Ashley's jeans. She slashed the denim open with her claws and pushed her hand lower, closing around Ashley's distended flesh. "But you have time to take me."

She stroked and Ashley threw her head back, eyes wild, canines gleaming. Ashley was already hot and hard in her palm, and if she kept stroking her, she would make Ashley come. She loved having that kind of control over her mate, the most dominant of all the Weres, but she needed Ashley closer. Her wolf raged at her to join, shredding her control. She needed Ashley in every part of her. "Inside. I need you."

"Hold on to me," Ashley growled, her words so guttural they were barely recognizable. Spencer clamped an arm around Ashley's shoulders but kept her fingers closed around Ashley's clitoris—squeezing, tugging, preparing Ashley for what she needed. Ashley tore Spencer's pants away from Spencer's hips and shoved her own jeans lower. "Release me."

"Not yet," Spencer whispered, shuddering as her clitoris tensed and she readied for her mate. She stroked Ashley, feeling the furious beat of her blood and the slick wash of sex. She fingered the tender undersurface of Ashley's clitoris and dipped inside her. Ashley's hips jerked and she snarled, a dangerous, lethal sound that made Spencer's nipples tense and pelt flare down her abdomen. She was so, so ready but she wanted more. She licked the mate bite on Ashley's chest and Ashley spasmed in her hand.

"No more. I can't…" Ashley grasped Spencer's wrist and pulled her hand free. Surging forward, she slotted her distended clitoris below Spencer's. Their flesh, their spirits, bonded, sealing their union. The hard knot of need between Spencer's thighs exploded, and she coated Ashley with her essence, marking her. Ashley roared and buried her canines in Spencer's shoulder, coming with her. Spencer scissored her legs around Ashley's hips, keeping Ashley inside as Ashley thrust through her orgasm.

Ashley held Spencer tightly as her legs buckled and she went to the floor, cradling Spencer in her lap. Ashley's chest heaved and her belly rolled with pleasure. Gasping, she twisted until her back was against the door. "You take everything."

Spencer curled into Ashley's arms and kissed her throat. "I know."

Ashley sighed, and for that brief moment, she was free from the burden of rule. She was only Spencer's. "Thank you."

Spencer murmured contentedly and caressed Ashley's breast. "For what, Ashley?"

"For giving me a place to rest."

"Always."

Ashley rubbed her cheek in Spencer's hair. "I talked to Bo and Lauren."

"How is Bo?" Spencer asked.

"Healed, she says. Lauren agrees, and I trust her assessment."

"Bo's lucky. You both were." Spencer kissed Ashley's chest. "I imagine Lauren is having the same talk with Bo that I had with you."

"Bo is my general. She was born to fight. Lauren knows that."

"I know, but love changes perspective sometimes."

Ashley nuzzled Spencer's throat. "It does."

"You need to eat and get some sleep, love."

"What I need I have—you."

"You have me." Spencer stroked Ashley's face and kissed her. "But the Pack needs you strong, and if you're going to face Madison, you need to be at your strongest. I don't trust her."

Ashley laughed. "You don't like her."

"You're right, I don't. And not just because she's touched you. She's the Chancellor of the City and Viceregal of the Eastern Vampire seethe because she's clever, self-serving, and powerful. Don't underestimate her, Ashley, and don't believe her at her word."

"I don't intend to." Ashley paused. "There's something else. Something you need to know."

Spencer tensed, hearing the distress in Ashley's voice. "What is it?"

"Lauren told me something tonight that her parents have kept secret ever since they joined the Pack when Lauren was a young child."

"Something about Lauren's transformation?" Spencer had known subconsciously all along that the Pack medic was no ordinary mutia. No ordinary turned-Were. Lauren was different than other Weres, just like Spencer.

"Lauren wasn't bitten, wasn't turned by a Were—rabid or otherwise. She was…created by an experimental virus that was being studied in a human laboratory."

"Studied? Developed, you mean." Bitterly, Spencer thought of Alice and Carmen, two of their female young who'd been held captive in a laboratory and studied, their bodies biopsied, their blood analyzed, their sex glands stimulated to force emissions. Cold rage spread through her chest. "Why? What were the experiments supposed to do?"

"The Lewises thought they were working on a cure for Were fever, but what was really going on was an attempt to create Weres or at least replicate Were traits. Obviously, they were only partially successful. Most of the subjects died, but Lauren didn't."

"Lauren was only a child. She shouldn't have lived," Spencer pointed out.

"That's what makes her unique. The Lewises think the experiments are still going on."

"That might explain the infected humans you liberated from the lab. And the dead girls who appeared to die of Were fever," Spencer said, dread settling in her depths.

"Yes," Ashley said quietly.

"The experiments, the partially turned humans, the viral contagion—it would explain me," Spencer said.

"Possibly," Ashley said.

"The Lewises need to study me," Spencer said.

Ashley growled. "I know you want to do whatever you can to help those girls, but—"

"I'm not thinking just about the girls." Spencer pressed her palm to Ashley's heart. "If I am Were because of a manufactured virus, we can't know that the mutation is stable. I'm pregnant, Ashley. We have to know what this will do to our young."

Ashley shook her head. "I already know. I can sense them, so can Lauren. They're healthy. Trust me."

Spencer nodded. She trusted Ashley with her heart and her future, and whatever fate their young faced, she would protect them with her life.


	3. Chapter 3

__Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing about this story... the writing is all L.L. Raand's and the Characters are from various television shows (South of Nowhere, The O.C., Orange is the New Black, Lost Girl, The Fosters, and The L Word) Credit goes completely to all listed above.__

* * *

Alex emerged from Stef's lair and headed towards the river. Keeping to side streets and alleyways, she slid into the shadows whenever a passerby gave her more than a cursory glance. Humans saw what they expected to see—a four-legged, furred creature with a tail and a canine face was a dog, despite her wolf's larger-than-average size. She was faster than a dog, more agile, and, unlike dogs, able to assess and strategize as well on four legs as she could on two. Her wolf wanted to run, to hunt, and knew where she needed to go. Within minutes she'd reached the banks of the river and turned north. The land bordering the river as it wended into the King High Mountains was largely undeveloped, edged by woods, prime farmland, and the occasional waterfront summer cottage. Farmhouses sat well back from the river, above the floodplains where the river dumped its rich silt when it overran its bank after a heavy rain or spring snow melt. Trails—deer, fox, wolf, and cat—threaded through the woods and pastures, invisible to most humans but as familiar to Alex as the highways she traveled by car. She ran as she never could in skin—her limbs stretching to the rhythm of the earth rippling under her paws, her mouth open, tasting the air, the trees, the undergrowth—absorbing the world through her pores, clear and clean with no artificial barriers to isolate her. Her wolf, unleashed after weeks of pain and imprisonment, ran with an unfettered joy and fierce desire for freedom.

Every instinct drove her north, toward Pack land, toward home. Home, but no longer sanctuary. The Compound, the Alpha's walled haven in the heart of Pack land, was closed to her. She had petitioned for her freedom, asked to be released from her oath to the Alpha in order to serve another, and the Alpha had granted her request. She was no longer the Alpha's _centuri_—she was Fosters' warlord. Although she hunted in pelt, she was more than wolf, more than Were now, and she skirted the borders of Pack land, hundreds of acres of dense virgin forest patrolled only by a network of Were _sentrie_s. A doe crossed her path, hesitated at the scent of the predator close by, and, with a wild roll of her eyes and flick of her snowy tail, bunched her muscles and bounded deeper into the forest.

Alex's wolf took notice but didn't give chase. She wasn't hungry. Her blood didn't rise to the call to hunt. Confused, but unprotesting, her wolf let the deer go and pushed on. Acid burned in her muscles, breath scoured her lungs. Her tongue lolled, her chest heaved. And still she ran, desperate for freedom, wild to purge the pain that lacerated her heart. Weak sunlight flickered through the trees, thinning filaments of gold that laced her pelt as she passed in and out of shadow. Fingers of heat trickled through her fur, but she did not burn. Just as the fire she'd driven through to rescue the Alpha and the Liege had failed to touch her, the sunlight had no effect on her. Lethal to Vampires, the UV radiation seemed powerless to damage her. Not Were, not Vampire. She didn't fear true death, but death refused to claim her.

She stopped once by a stream coursing down a ravine to drink cool, clear mountain water from a shimmering pool. An owl hooted from deeper in the forest, rabbits and squirrels rustled in the underbrush, and once she scented a whisper of wolf—one of the _sentrie_s on patrol, guarding the Alpha's land. The dark, spicy aroma of Pack teased her senses, stirred an answering surge in her cells.

Ignoring the call, she struck off again, staying downwind of the _sentrie'_s location. She wasn't sure of her welcome—a dominant wolf on Pack land, an ally, perhaps, but no longer of the Pack. Her presence might be seen as a challenge to the Alpha, and if challenged, the Alpha would show no quarter. That was the law of the Pack. She had not come to give challenge, and soon she would have duties elsewhere. Stef would rise at sunfall and feed, first from her consort Lena and, if the injuries she'd sustained in the raid on the human labs were not totally healed, from Roberts or another of her human servants. The warlord needed to be there when Stef was ready to convene her forces. Alex was not a guard—Dani was in charge of Stef's Vampire guards, and Roberts oversaw Clan security. But all Stef's soldiers, human and Vampire alike, were Alex's to command. She would not have left the lair, even for her wolf's fierce need, if she thought Stef might be in danger.

In the last few minutes of daylight, she climbed an escarpment, scrabbling over loose rocks, pushing through underbrush, struggling to reach the pinnacle, needing to see the forest stretching endlessly before her, longing for a glimpse of the majesty that had always been her home. Crouched on a boulder on the very edge of a cliff, she watched the sun set and the moon rise, twin hearts destined to share the universe, always separated as they passed on the edges of the day.

The first glimmer of moonlight silvered through the gray twilight, and Alex's blood stirred at last. She raised her head and howled, pierced by the primal beauty. Her cries tumbled into the river valley below, echoed to her, mournful and solitary, from the mountain peaks surrounding her. When silence was all that remained, she padded down the steep slope the way she had come. If she ran all the way back, she would reach Stef's town house only a little after full nightrise.

As she skirted the underbrush toward the water, a sound sliced the still air. Hackles rising, she stilled, her ears pricked, her nose testing the air. She'd heard the cry of a cat. The Catamount cat Weres' territory was a few miles to the east, and occasionally their raiding parties forayed into Pack land. In pelt, the cats resembled huge mountain lions—tawny-gold coats, four-inch canines, thick muscular haunches, and powerful shoulders. More feral than wolves, the cats were sworn enemies of the wolf Weres. The cats had never been well organized and, as a result of their infighting and lack of a united military presence, had never been considered much of a threat to Pack security—which explained why Ashley had not wiped them out. But the Alpha's leniency only extended so far. Cat hunting parties were known to attack wolf young and solitary soldiers, and the standing order to all wolves was to attack on sight, and attack to kill.

Alex hunkered down and slunk through the underbrush in the direction from which she'd heard the sound. The wind had shifted, and she scented nothing she couldn't recognize—no foreign markings that didn't belong. She swung her head from side to side but heard nothing unusual. Sound carried in the mountains yet was just as easily distorted and redirected. She might be chasing a ghost, but she needed to be sure. She might not be _centuri_, might not even be wolf, but her duty remained. She would not turn away from an enemy.

The riverbank narrowed into a rocky stretch bordered by a steep cliff crisscrossed with narrow ledges, outcroppings of scraggly underbrush, and jumbled piles of boulders. Narrow crevices seamed the rock face, providing perfect cover for attack from above. Alex slowed and scanned the lengthening shadows. She perked her ears, heard nothing. Raised her muzzle, sniffed the damp air. Nothing. Across the water another owl hooted. She flicked her ears. Perhaps that's what she'd heard. She padded forward slowly, searching. A small shower of stones trickled down the slope. One bounced off her shoulder. She froze.

Something moving above? She could see nothing. Scent nothing. But instinct told her she was not alone. She crouched, eased forward. One step. Another. A screech of fury sliced the air, sharp as a blade. Alex froze an instant. An instant that cost her as a crushing weight landed on her back and slammed her to the ground.

Rocks scraped her muzzle, gouged her chest.

Jaws clamped onto her neck, teeth tore through the muscles of her shoulder. Claws raked her flanks. Pain exploded in a dozen places at once.

Alex growled, claws slashing and canines snapping. Unable to reach the vulnerable belly or throat, she rolled to dislodge her attacker. The beast rode her back, limbs wrapped around her shoulders and hindquarters, shaking and twisting her neck in powerful jaws. Fire roared through Alex's chest, rained down her back, and she snarled and thrashed. Her wolf was a seasoned fighter, and now, she was more than wolf. Stronger, faster. Spinning with Vampire speed, she caught a leg in her mouth and locked her jaws, twisting and tearing. Warm, rich, potent blood filled her mouth. Her clitoris tensed, her sex filled. Her teeth met bone.

Another scream tore through the night and the pressure on her neck relented. Her hind legs made purchase on the stony bank, and she levered her body into a sharp curve, snapping the bone between her jaws. Claws tore through her side, slashed through muscle, and she released the leg, snarling wildly. She arched her back and the weight disappeared. Spinning quickly, she faced her attacker. A huge mountain lion, ears pinned back, bluish-green eyes nearly black with rage, screamed a challenge. She was a beautiful beast, sleek and muscled, her jaws wide, lethal canines gleaming, covered in blood. Alex's blood. Alex was smaller but quicker, and she leapt, hungry for blood, primed for the kill. She buried her teeth in the cat's throat, pressing her body close to the cat's underside. If she exposed her belly to the churning limbs and deadly claws, the cat would tear her innards from her and rip out her throat while she strangled on her own blood. A cat this big might even be able to kill her, but not today. Today the kill was hers.

Alex squeezed the cat's windpipe closed and dug her claws into the cat's sides, tethering herself, refusing to be dislodged even as the cat screamed and rolled, thrashing, slashing, a whirlwind of furious power. But even the strongest enemy could not fight forever without air. Alex's belly burned, her shoulder gushed blood, but she held on. The cat grew weaker, fell, and didn't rise. Howling triumphantly, Alex straddled the prone form, shaking the cat's giant head in her jaws. Her sex pulsed, verging on release. Her belly quivered, tight with need. She sensed the cat's heartbeat slowing, tasted the life leeching from the blood that poured down her throat. Another few seconds, and she would have her kill. Another few seconds and she—

A foreign sound cut through the fury of her bloodlust. A weak cry, thin and forlorn. Alex stilled, listened. The cry came again, was joined by another. Alex released her hold on the cat's throat, raised her head, peered into the darkness. Another shape materialized, coming fast, silently—another wolf. Alex sprang off the cat and crouched beside the bloodied, motionless body, facing the intruder. She growled a warning. Her kill. _Hers._

The wolf, a slender gray-and-white female, hesitated, ears back, tail straight, hackles raised. Snarled a challenge. A _sentrie_, a young one, and one Alex knew. Alex glanced at the cat. Barely breathing, barely alive. She sniffed the air again, caught another scent beneath the blood and pheromones clouding her mind. Young. The cat had young.

_Wait_, Alex signaled to the _sentrie_. _Guard her. If she moves, kill her_.

The younger wolf crouched, growled softly, eased forward an inch at a time. Preparing to spring. Refusing an order. Alex snarled. She should kill this wolf, but…something was wrong. She shifted, stood upright. "Kyla, stand down."

The _sentrie_ quivered, whined, and shook. An instant later Kyla crouched on the rocks, head lowered. "I'm sorry, _Centuri_, I didn't…I don't know why…I didn't recognize you."

"Never mind that now," Alex said. "Guard this…"

"Alex!" Kyla warned, dark eyes wide.

Alex spun around. The cat Were had shifted as Weres often did when dying. Her hair was a few shades darker than the wild tawny color her pelt had been, lying in tangled curls around her shoulders. Blood still trickled from the slashes in her throat and long sloping belly. Teeth marks scored her full breasts. Bone protruded from her right forearm. She had fought ferociously, even when dying, and she was still beautiful in death.

Alex stared. She had vanquished an enemy and all she felt was crushing emptiness. Inside, her wolf howled with pain and fury. Alex knelt beside the fallen female. _Who are you? _

Eyes the color of teal ocean waves, shimmering with pain, met hers. Blood trickled from the corner of her wide, generous mouth. "Please."

Alex leaned closer, not sure she hadn't imagined the sound, barely a breath. _Who are you? _

"Kill me, not them. Please not them."

"No," Alex whispered, the words an oath. "Not them."


	4. Chapter 4

__Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing about this story... the writing is all L.L. Raand's and the Characters are from various television shows (South of Nowhere, The O.C., Orange is the New Black, Lost Girl, The Fosters, and The L Word) Credit goes completely to all listed above.__

**Rated Kinda M**

* * *

Marissa stared up into the face of her enemy, struggling with her last ounce of strength to stay alive. Weak. So weak. And everywhere, the pain. So little left after she'd fought so hard, for so long. Never once had she begged, never once had she bargained. Her pride, her honor, her fury wouldn't let her bend. And she'd almost won. Almost. Until this enemy had come out of the mist broadcasting such deadly power she'd had to stand and fight. She'd fought to the last and lost, and now her pride meant nothing. Just as her life meant nothing. She had nothing left to give except her life, and even that was not enough. Marissa waited for the final blow, the last searing agony.

Her enemy's eyes were twin fires, crimson flames dancing in an azure blaze, endless depths that caught and held. She'd die a captive in those eyes. Marissa's vision dimmed and she forced herself to move. Instantly, rivers of pain flooded her consciousness from every direction, driving off the creeping fog of death. Beyond her own silent screams she heard nothing, a silence so absolute she almost smiled. The cubs had learned, almost too late. They would be hiding now, as she had taught them. Wary, vigilant, motionless. Waiting for her to return. The pain in her heart was worse than anything her body endured.

"Find the young," the _centuri_ ordered, never moving her gaze from Marissa.

"No." Marissa gasped, the slightest movement unbearable. But she forced her head back, gave her throat even as she felt the blood from her wounds pouring down her chest. "My life…in exchange for theirs."

"I already have your life," her enemy growled. Her gaze never faltered. Hard, merciless eyes. Hard, cold, deadly beauty.

Marissa shuddered. She had nothing left to offer, but for them she would sacrifice her honor. "I know things. Tell your Alpha—"

"Who are you?"

The words echoed in her mind as if she had heard them before. But they were only the echoes of the question she'd asked herself as she'd hidden alone in the mountains, hungry, hunted, homeless. "I am Marissa. Alpha to the cat Weres."

Her enemy, with the burning eyes and blonde hair, grabbed her by the throat. "I should kill you now."

Marissa groaned, tears of anguish leaking from her eyes. She couldn't use her right arm. The slightest motion pushed her to the brink of unconsciousness. Weakly, she used her left to grip her enemy's arm. No honor, no pride. "Sanctuary. I seek sanctuary."

The _centuri_ swung her head around and spat out an order. "Call John and Bo. Tell them we have a prisoner." The stony face, utterly cold, achingly beautiful in its remote austerity, turned back to her. "If you die, Cat, I will feed your cubs to our pups."

Marissa snarled. "One day, Wolf, I will claw your heart from your chest."

The cool beauty smiled and she tightened her hold. "You're welcome to try, but I am hard to kill."

Marissa gasped, fighting for air. Her chest constricted, her vision clouded. If she died, this wolf would kill her cubs. She tried to sit up, failed. So weak. And the blood still gushed from her wounds.

"_Centuri_," a young female said, "they're coming. Chelsea too."

"Good."

"I'll get the cubs."

"No!" Marissa thrashed. "No."

"Lie still," her captor snapped. "You need to stop the bleeding. Can you shift?"

"Too weak," Marissa lied. She could shift, but the energy to transform would sap her last reserve and she'd probably lapse into unconsciousness until she healed. She could not trust these wolves with her cubs.

"What kind of Alpha are you?" the wolf said derisively.

Marissa's eyes blazed. "Alpha enough to—"

"Don't struggle. You're no match for me at full strength." The haunting eyes narrowed. "If you bleed to death, your young will die."

"When they are safe—"

"You don't have that long. Don't fight me."

Marissa tensed as the wolf leaned over her, strands of blonde hair falling across her breast, ghosting over her cheek. Something deep inside her stirred, came to life in a way she'd never known. "No."

Be _still_. The words, a sensuous command, reverberated inside her head. And then she was running through golden meadows under a summer sun, her cubs at her heels. They were young and strong, frolicking, tumbling, filled with life and wild spirit. Wind ruffled her fur, and she breathed sunshine and sweet clover. Warm lips slid over her neck, a luxurious mouth caressed her skin. Marissa shivered. Heat flooded her body, curled in her depths. Her loins filled, pulsed with life and power.

She roared and she was running again, free and strong. Her limbs stretched, her muscles soared, and the calls of her young, vibrant and beautiful, filled her senses. Her nipples tensed. Her belly tightened. Tendrils of pleasure skated over her skin, teasing and tormenting, promising unbearable excitement. A second of piercing pain in her neck made her tense, and the fire returned, burning her to cinders. Marissa cried out as the orgasm consumed her.

Alex licked the rents she'd made in Marissa's neck, sealing the wounds with the feeding hormones that filled her mouth. Marissa arched beneath her, warm and alive—so beautiful, so tempting. Alex's breasts brushed Marissa's and her nipples tightened. The cat's orgasm flooded through her, and Alex drank her pleasure, struggling not to drink her blood. Marissa had none to give—she teetered on the brink of death, and Alex did not want to let her go. The cat was the enemy, but she had fought valiantly, and she was still fighting. Fighting to live, to protect her young. Her eyes, glazed with pain, had been filled with strength and endless loneliness. Alex recognized the soul-deep sadness. Growling, she forced the image of Marissa's wounded eyes from her mind. The cat Were might be useful to the Alpha—the only reason she needed to keep her alive.

Alex bit her, infusing Marissa's system with the healing essence unique to Vampires. She refused to feed, but she could not refuse the call of Marissa's flesh. The rising tide of Marissa's passion ignited her bloodlust. She kept herself from drinking with the last tethers of her control, but she could not deny the need kindled by the hunt and fired by Marissa's allure. She had to release. Straddling Marissa's thigh, Alex relinquished Marissa's neck and pierced Marissa's breast with her canines. Marissa, lost in thrall, clawed her back, the pain as exquisite as a bite. Alex came in a torrent so fierce she could barely keep from collapsing on Marissa's still form. Panting, drenched in blood and sex, she pulled her mouth away and braced herself on outstretched arms. Her muscles quivered and her sex pounded. She groaned.

Marissa's eyes, clouded with pleasure, roamed over Alex's face. "Who are you?"

"I don't know," Alex murmured.

* * *

Lena sat on the side of the vast four-poster bed, naked except for the cream silk sheets, a few shades lighter than her skin, draped over her thighs, and finished the meal Stef's servants had brought to the door not long before. She hadn't gotten used to sleeping during the day yet and had awakened before sunfall. She hadn't waited to share the meal with Stef. Stef did eat and drink, but when she woke, she wouldn't be hungry for food. She would be ravenous to feed, lusting for blood, especially as she'd been so recently injured. Lena had sent Stef's blood servants away, even though Stef would not be happy to find Lena alone in the bedroom. Stef was recently Risen, and most Vampires couldn't control their bloodlust so soon after making the final transition. Stef worried she would lose control when she fed from Lena and take too much blood.

Lena wasn't worried. Stef had the control of a much older and stronger Vampire. She pushed the service tray away and turned on the bed, leaning on one arm to watch Stef wake. She lived for and feared this moment every day. While asleep, Stef was lost to her, so deep in daylight somnolence she was barely breathing, her heartbeat so slow and subdued as to be impossible to feel. Lena was still terrified Stef would not wake and she would be helpless to reach her. Lena leaned over and kissed her, and when she pulled back, Stef's obsidian eyes were fixed on her face. Where once Lena had seen only endless night in those eyes, now scarlet shards cut through them, an ever-present reminder that Stef was Vampire.

"Hi," Lena said.

Stef smiled. "Hello."

Her incisors glistened against her lower lip and her eyes were suddenly more flame than ebony.

"Lena—" Stef murmured, half warning, half invitation.

"I've been waiting for you." Lena took Stef's hand and tugged as she lay on her back, drawing Stef over her. "Wanting you. Needing you."

Stef's hand came into Lena's hair and tightened, guiding her head back, exposing her neck. Lena wrapped her legs around Stef's slim hips. Stef's body was cool and smooth as marble against the heat of Lena's flesh. Lena's heart thundered in her chest, but she felt no answering pulse from Stef. She gripped Stef's shoulders. "I need all of you. Take what you need. Take me."

Stef was at Lena's neck so fast all she felt was the quicksilver flash of pain as Stef pierced her skin and then only unbearable pleasure.

"Oh God," Lena cried out, digging her fingers into Stef's shoulders. Her orgasm exploded through her, exquisitely raw, unspeakably intense. Stef rode between her thighs, drawing life from her life, coming with her. Their bodies, their heartbeats attuned with every pulse of Lena's blood into Stef's cells.

Deep in bloodlust, Stef's throat worked convulsively, her hips pumping to the rhythm of Lena's blood flowing into her. She wanted only to drink, to stave off the cold, dark emptiness from which she'd just emerged. Lena was warmth and light and life. Lena. Her consort. Her _human_ consort. Stef dragged her mouth away, severing the exquisite connection—choosing love over blood. "I love you."

Lena's eyes were glazed, her mouth swollen. She smiled lazily and ran her hands up and down Stef's back. "Mmm. I noticed that."

Stef laughed and kissed her on the mouth. Her clitoris pulsed against Lena's center. Filled with blood, Lena's blood, Stef was potent, strong. She framed Lena's face and kissed her again, rocking against her. "How do you feel?"

"Like I want more." Lena brushed Stef's hair from her forehead, tugged a lock between her fingers. "Like I want your mouth on me again. Like I want your bite."

"Do you?" Stef asked, sliding slowly up and down between her thighs.

"You know I do." Lena arched, rubbed her breasts and belly over Stef's. "Now, Vampire."

"With pleasure." Stef kissed her way down Lena's body and, settling between her legs, took her into her mouth. Licking slowly, sucking gently, she drank her essence as she had her blood, feasting on her.

"You're going to make me come," Lena warned breathlessly.

Stef caressed Lena's abdomen and cupped her breast, squeezing gently as she closed her lips around Lena's clitoris and sucked her into readiness.

"Oh yes…you are." Lena's legs trembled, twisting restlessly against the sheets. "Soon, darling. Please."

Stef caressed Lena's breasts and, at the instant Lena climaxed, carefully pierced the flesh on either side of Lena's clitoris. Her hormones tumbled Lena into a crescendo of orgasms, spiraling higher and higher until Lena cried out and went limp.

Stef gathered her into her arms and kissed her. "Better?"

Lena laughed softly. "Better…hmm. Yes." She pillowed her head on Stef's shoulder. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm healed. I'm fine. Are you—"

"Wonderful. Stop worrying."

"No headache, no weakness?"

Lena made a fist and lightly punched Stef's shoulder, earning a raised eyebrow from her elegant Vampire lover. "I told you. It doesn't hurt me to feed you. Not at all."

Stef's brows drew down. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you were born to this."

"Maybe I was. It's possible, isn't it? That there might be human servants that don't even know they have the capacity? Just because they've never been with a Vampire?"

"I suppose it's possible," Stef said, rolling over onto her back and drawing Lena into her arms. "We've always assumed that Vampires and our servants have been together since the beginning—linked genetically. There's very little crossover among servants in different Clans, and as a result, our lines have evolved together. But there could have been humans who never served, and their lines remained…dormant."

"Perhaps certain humans have the genetic capability, and it's expressed differently in some generations or is triggered in some individuals," Lena mused. "I'm not an expert on that sort of thing, but I know someone at the university—"

"Lena," Stef said, her voice suddenly flat and cold. "There are reasons we don't expose ourselves to humans. Remember, we have been hunted nearly to extinction. We must be careful what we allow the humans to know."

"I understand," Lena said, appreciating that until very recently, all the Praetern species had lived in utter secrecy, hiding in plain sight for millennia. But for her, information was not just knowledge, it was life. And if there were things she could discover that would help keep Stef safe and strong, she would find a way to get the information. "I promise, I'll be careful."

"And you'll tell me what—"

A knock sounded on the door, and Roberts called, "I'm sorry, Liege, but an urgent call."

"Come in." Stef drew the sheet over Lena.

Roberts, dressed in a black silk shirt and trousers, carried a cell phone to Stef and held it out. "Alpha Davies."

Stef took the phone. "Foster."

"You need to come to the Compound," Ashley said.

"What is it?"

"Alex is here, and there've been developments."

"I'll be there within the hour." Stef ended the call and stared at Roberts. "Why is Alex at the Compound and not here?"

"She left, Liege. Shortly after she fed." Roberts grimaced. "I'm afraid I was…incapacitated, and she ordered the guards to open the barricades."

"Before sunfall?"

"Yes, Liege."

"Tell Dani to gather my guards and bring a car around."

Roberts inclined her head. "Yes, Liege. Do you need to feed?"

Lena raised her head from Stef's shoulder and smiled at Roberts. "No, Roberts. Thank you. Stef has already been taken care of."

"Leave us," Stef said.

"As you wish." Roberts bowed slightly to Stef and left.

"You have no need to be jealous," Stef murmured.

"She's very beautiful."

"And you are my consort."

Lena sighed. "I know. Give me a century or two and I'll get used to it."

Stef laughed. "Take as long as you need." She pushed the sheets aside. "I must go."

"I'll come with you."

Stef hesitated, unused to sharing her life with anyone.

"I'm your consort, Stef. I belong with you."

"Yes. You do." Stef held out a hand. "Come."

"Alex went out during the day?" Lena asked as she gathered her clothes.

"Apparently."

"How?"

Stef's jaw hardened. "I don't know."


	5. Chapter 5

__Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing about this story... the writing is all L.L. Raand's and the Characters are from various television shows (South of Nowhere, The O.C., Orange is the New Black, Lost Girl, The Fosters, and The L Word) Credit goes completely to all listed above.__

* * *

"_Sentrie_," Alex called.

Kyla moved up quickly beside her. "Yes, _Centuri_?"

"Warlord," Alex said.

Kyla ducked her head. "Yes, Warlord."

"How far is your weapon?"

"Only a few hundred yards. I wasn't far when I heard the struggle and waited to shift until I was close."

"Good. Get it and guard the prisoner."

"Yes, Warlord." Kyla sprinted away.

Alex crouched beside her prisoner. Marissa's bleeding had stopped, but her wounds had not healed and wouldn't until she could shift again. All but the strongest of wolves would need hours if not days to heal from injuries as bad as Marissa's, but Marissa was an Alpha and sure to heal faster than any other cat. The effect of the infusion of Vampire hormones was uncertain too. If Marissa regained her strength and challenged again before the other _sentries_ arrived, Alex would have to kill her. A cat that powerful could not be allowed to live, even if she had invoked sanctuary. Her voluntary imprisonment should last until the Alpha pronounced sentence, but cats couldn't be trusted to keep their word—unlike wolves, the felines were lawless and without honor. If Marissa could escape, Alex had no doubt she would.

"Where are your guards?" Alex asked Marissa.

Marissa's jaw tensed, her direct gaze a challenge.

Alex stared her down. "Don't make me hurt you again—I just saved your life."

"I'm alone."

"Why?" Alex shook her head. "No Alpha travels without guards."

"I'm alone."

"Alone in Pack land, with cubs?"

Marissa's eyes narrowed and she growled.

Alex almost smiled. The cat was helpless and still she challenged. "Where are they?"

"Let me get them," Marissa said.

"You're too weak to go anywhere."

"I think I know what I am capable of, Wolf," Marissa said, a snarl underscoring her words.

"You forget, Cat, you are a prisoner. Even if you weren't as weak as one of your cubs, you aren't in charge any longer. I am your new master."

"I am no one's slave." Marissa's canines flashed, and her eyes darkened to the blue of the deep ocean. Her cheekbones arched, sharp and bold beneath her tawny skin. A flare of gold burnished her belly. She verged on shifting, no matter she could never stand to a challenge.

"Cage your cat, Marissa," Alex murmured, her blood stirring at the unmistakable tang of power in the air. Marissa was barely conscious, but her call was strong. Not the wild burn of the Alpha's call, but a dark, seductive caress that promised secret pleasures. Alex had never tangled with a cat, no wolf would, and the tightening of her clitoris infuriated her. "You're in no shape to challenge me."

"Leave them alone."

"You'd rather have them die?"

Pain flashed across Marissa's face. She was fearless for her own safety, but frantic for her young. Alex crushed a surge of sympathy and rose as Kyla strode up, automatic rifle at the ready. "If she moves, shoot her in the heart."

Kyla's chin jutted and she snapped a salute, fist to heart. "Yes, Warlord."

Alex stalked away. The cat might be beautiful, but she was still an enemy. Alex skimmed her fingertips over the pelt line that bisected her abdominals and disappeared between her thighs, swallowing the pulse of feeding hormones coating her tongue. Her nipples were tense, the deep glands beneath her clitoris throbbing. She still tasted Marissa's blood, still scented her musk. She wanted to howl. She wanted to feed. From her.

Ever since she'd awakened to discover she had died and been resurrected Vampire, sex and blood had been all she'd craved. Anyone's blood. Anyone's body. Marissa might be a cat, but her blood was that of an Alpha—potent, erotic, addictive. Maybe she should have killed her. The cat was dangerous. Alex slid her hand lower, brushed the swollen prominence at the apex of her thighs. Soon, she'd find another to feed from. Soon.

Lengthening her stride, Alex forced thoughts of Marissa and sex and blood from her mind. She needed to find the cubs before the area was flooded with wolves and the cubs were killed on sight. Once she was far enough away from Marissa that the cat's distinctive mountain scent was just a lingering note teasing her senses, she stopped and extended her awareness outward into the craggy canyon. After a second, she detected the crushed-leaf aroma of cat and felt the twin heartbeats, fast and frightened. Silently, she followed the vibrations upward, gliding over the rock face as quickly in skin as she had in pelt, faster in either form than when she'd been wholly Were. Three-quarters of the way up the cliff she reached a narrow ledge less than a foot wide that ended in a blind turn. She guessed the cubs were sheltered around that bend, probably in a niche in the rock wall. A highly defensible position. Marissa had chosen well. Alex eased along the ledge and crouched at the bend, gripping the rough stone surface with one hand and leaning out to peer around the corner.

Four bright eyes glinted in the shadows.

"Hello, little ones," Alex murmured. The echo of their heartbeats escalated in her blood. She reached around and tiny claws raked her forearm. Laughing, she gripped the cub by the ruff and hauled it out. Four tiny limbs thrashed and miniature teeth flashed. A fighter. After tucking the cub between her hip and the wall, she retrieved its littermate. They were practically newborns, barely bigger than the palm of her hand. Marissa must have just given birth—no wonder she'd been too weak to fight. Their pelts were feather soft, the fur finer than their mother's and dotted with faint brown spots, whereas Marissa's pelt was an even tawny gold. Their eyes were hers, though, a distinctive brilliant green. One had shards of gold ringing its irises, like she'd noticed in Marissa's eyes when Marissa dropped her guard. Alex held the scrabbling young up in the air, one in each hand, and examined their soft round bellies. One male, one female. The female with the green-gold eyes bared her teeth and swatted at Alex's wrist with a paw the size of a pea. Alex shook her gently and growled. "Like your Alpha, foolish but brave." She rose, tucked them both into the curve of one arm, and started down. A moment later she stood over Marissa. "They're just whelps."

Marissa's gaze shot to her cubs. A protective rumble rose from her chest. The cubs mewled and struggled harder. Alex tightened her grip.

"A little over a week," Marissa said at last.

"You gave birth to them out here, didn't you?" Alex shook her head. "Why? You had to know how vulnerable you'd be with two helpless cubs and you not at full strength." Alex knelt, watching Marissa for any sudden aggression. "Why? Who are you running from?"

Marissa's mouth set in a tight line. "I will speak to your Alpha and no one else."

Alex heard the sound of vehicles approaching fast. Soon Marissa's fate would be out of her hands. The idea of anyone, even the Alpha, taking charge of Marissa and her cubs made her snarl. Marissa tensed, flashed her canines. "Save your energy. You'll have your chance to face the Alpha soon enough."

"Let me have the cubs."

Alex laughed. "You're in no condition to take care of them. Besides, I might want to play with them."

"You bastard." Marissa half sat up, and Kyla leveled the automatic at her.

Alex smiled as Marissa relented and dropped back to the ground. "Have you forgotten the rules of war, Marissa? You lost. You have no power here."

Two Rovers pulled to a stop a few yards away, and the doors of both vehicles flew open. Alex expected to see John, the captain of the sentries, leading the retrieval squad, but to her surprise, Bo, the Alpha's second, jumped down from the first armored vehicle. A half dozen armed soldiers exited the second and spread out into the forest. Shirtless in camo BDUs, Bo, a muscular brunette with an automatic rifle slung over her back, strode forward and nodded curtly to Alex. A swath of barely healed burns crisscrossed her chest and left shoulder. Hands on hips, she stared down at Marissa, her lips drawn back and canines gleaming. Aggressive pheromones clouded the air. "I didn't believe it when I heard. A cat Were. Why isn't she dead?"

Alex's canines dropped and her pelt line flared. She slid between Bo and Marissa and rumbled a warning. "She has information for the Alpha."

"So she says. How do you know it isn't a trap?"

"Look at her. What kind of trap could she spring?"

"How do you know she's who she says she is?" Bo snorted. "An Alpha would never let herself be bested—of course, this one is a cat, but still." Bo prodded Marissa with her boot. "Who are you, bitch?"

"Bo," Alex whispered, "she's my captive."

"You're on Pack land," Bo said, pushing into Alex's space, her tone issuing a warning. "You have no rights here, Vampire."

Alex fought her fury. Bo was the Alpha's second, and if she decided Marissa was a threat, she had the power to order her execution. She understood Bo's instinct to protect the Pack, but Alex was no longer bound by Pack law—she was Warlord to the Night Hunters first. Their long friendship, the times they'd tangled—both desperate for release and some semblance of connection—meant nothing now. This was a war zone, and they were soldiers. "We don't know what information she may have, but I stand for Liege Stef Foster, sworn ally to your Alpha, and under the terms of our alliance, I claim jurisdiction over this prisoner."

"You can't—"

"Bo," a soft female voice said, "no one is going to fight over her now. Move out of the way so I can attend to her."

Alex glanced at the blonde-haired medic. "I thought Chelsea was coming."

"She was," Lauren said, "until Bo decided she had to be the one to assess the situation." Lauren pressed a delicate palm to Bo's chest and pushed. "Give me some room here, _Imperator_."

Bo rumbled but stepped aside, glaring at Alex.

"What have you got there?" Lauren gestured toward the cubs, who squirmed against Alex's chest.

"Hers."

"At least let me throw them in the river," Bo muttered.

Marissa roared and pushed up, trying to get her legs under her. Bo leapt and buried her claws in Marissa's shoulder, pinning her back to the ground.

Instantly in a rage, Alex looped an arm around Bo's neck and dragged her off, crushing Bo's throat with her forearm. "Stand down! She's mine!"

Bo coughed and raked Alex's arms with her claws, twisting to get loose.

"That's enough!" Lauren crouched over Marissa and glared at the struggling dominant wolves. "She's _mine_ now, and both of you need to get back. Alex—take those cubs to the Rover. Bo—you stand guard while I examine her if you're worried, but don't touch her."

Alex drew a deep breath and her vision cleared. Lauren was _Omega_, neither dominant nor submissive, and her empathic powers calmed even the most aggressive wolf. She was also Bo's mate, and Bo's instinct was to please her. Alex eased her hold when she felt the tension diminish in Bo's shoulders. The cubs she'd clamped against her side protested her tight grip with indignant cries.

Marissa struggled weakly, blood trickling from the claw marks Bo had put on her chest. "Are they hurt?"

"I have them," Alex snapped. "Lauren, she's bleeding and she's lost a lot of blood already. She probably has internal injuries. She can't shift."

"I'll take care of her." Lauren opened the med kit she'd carried from the Rover. "Take the young to the vehicle and wrap them in a blanket. They should be kept warm. There are clothes for you in there too."

Alex gave no thought to her nakedness. She only cared about protecting her captive. She held out the young to Lauren. "You take them."

Lauren shook her head. "I need to see to her. Go on, the cat will be safe until you return."

Alex glanced at Bo. She didn't trust Bo with Marissa, but Lauren, like all medics, was ferociously protective of her patients. "Don't touch her."

Bo lifted a lip, her eyes flashing as she stared at Marissa. Marissa struggled to push herself up onto her elbows, her lips drawing back in a snarl. She was badly hurt, but she was an Alpha and would not back down from a challenge.

"Stop it." Lauren held Marissa down with a hand on her shoulder. "You don't have the strength for this."

"You don't know me," Marissa growled, her attention fixed on Bo.

"No," Lauren murmured, pressing her fingers to the pulse in Marissa's throat. "But I know dominant Weres and just exactly how stubborn they can be. Now hush and let me see to you. You have cubs who need you."

Marissa shuddered, too weak to hold herself up, and fell back, her gaze traveling to Alex.

"I'll secure them," Alex said gruffly. With a last warning growl to Bo she loped to the SUV and jumped into the back. After emptying one of the equipment drawers, she lined it with a blanket and put the cubs in. Kneeling, she said, "Stay here."

The tiny golden cubs pressed close together in one corner, their eyes wide, their soft coats stiff. High-pitched growls reverberated in their chests. They were frightened, but they were ready to fight, both of them. Alex smiled. "Your mother would be proud." She lowered her face and snarled, teaching them who was in charge. Their ears flattened and they crouched farther back in the corner. "Don't move."

A sound behind her had her spinning around, ready to fight. Kyla stood in the open door, watching her. "Do you think they understand you?"

Alex pulled a pair of black BDUs from a pile on the floor and stepped into them. The wounds Marissa's claws had made in her sides were healed. "I don't know. They understand who's in charge. Some pups that young are sentient. The Alpha's pups usually are, and Marissa is an Alpha."

"Yeah, but she's a cat. They're not as strong as us."

Alex thought of Marissa's ferocity and power, despite her weakened state, and wondered how well the wolves really knew the cats. "What are you doing out here alone?"

"When the labs were attacked, John doubled the patrols. Most of us are out here." She climbed in and knelt by the cubs. "What if they shift to skin? Will they be okay?"

"I don't think they will until their mother calls them to shift. Our pups don't even shift to pelt until they're older and stronger. I suspect Marissa wanted them in pelt because they've been outside so long."

"What is she doing here?"

"I don't know." Alex glanced over to where Lauren was injecting Marissa with something from her med kit. "But whatever she's running from, it must be deadly if she risked coming here."

"If I'd seen her first, I would have shot her."

"As you should have."

"They would've died." Kyla stared at the tiny cubs who watched her warily. She held out a finger and one swatted at it. She laughed. "A pup would have tried to bite."

"Cats fight with their claws first—we fight with our teeth." Alex regarded the cubs and refused to think of Marissa outside, bleeding, entrusting them to her. "They don't belong here. This is Timberwolf territory. She violated Pack borders. Your orders are just."

"Yes, _cent_…Warlord." Kyla straightened. "What's going to happen to her now?"

"I don't know. She shouldn't be here, but she is. We are at war with humans. And I…" Alex shook her head. "Nothing is as it was before. The Alpha will need to interrogate her."

Alex jumped out of the Rover and headed for Marissa. She wasn't letting her out of her sight. No matter what the Alpha decided, Marissa was hers.


	6. Update Status

Hey Guys,

So it has literally been years and I am blown away by how eager you guys still are for these stories and I am truly blessed to have such patient supporters. I am currently doing 18 credits, an internship, working part time and taking care of my sick dad so its been a bit hectic the past couple years. However you guys always make me smile and even though I no longer read spashley fanfics I feel like I owe it to the community that helped me through my teenage years. So I am officially announcing my return. I will post 3 chapters every Saturday and Sunday. Hopefully you guys will stick by me through this journey and I am very excited to be back!

-Lone-wolf916


	7. Chapter 6

__Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing about this story... the writing is all L.L. Raand's and the Characters are from various television shows (South of Nowhere, The O.C., Orange is the New Black, Lost Girl, The Fosters, and The L Word) Credit goes completely to all listed above.__

* * *

Dr. Jenny Schector regarded her bodyguard with a resurgence of desire as the Vampire drove the Town Car toward Gray along the industrial highway adjacent to the river. Niki's chiseled profile was perfection, like that of every other Vampire she had ever known. Niki's beauty—coal-black hair, iridescent blue eyes, sculpted features—would have been disconcerting if Jenny was the least bit intimidated by anyone under any circumstance or less than supremely confident in her own beauty and ability. Vampires were beautiful and clever—even, in some cases, intelligent—but at the core, they were still predators, controlled by primal urges. Uncontrollable urges were weaknesses and, once understood, susceptible to manipulation. The very things that made Vampires so very interesting—their sexual power and seductive lure—also proved very useful tools for those who knew how to take advantage of them. Like her.

They'd only just left her bed. Niki had appeared at her door, hungry from the day's sleep and radiating such sexual compulsion Jenny had skyrocketed to the brink of orgasm without a single touch. She'd come the instant Niki's incisors pierced her neck and hadn't stopped until Niki released her. When in the thrall of Niki's bloodlust, she was forced to cede control, and those moments of excruciating pleasure were all the more addicting for that wholly unfamiliar experience. But she didn't intend to let Niki or anyone else believe they held true power over her.

"You don't approve of this little visit, do you?" Jenny asked. Nothing of what Niki was thinking about their impromptu trip to the Vampire blood club showed on her face, and that supreme control both fascinated and annoyed. Jenny leaned over and slipped her hand between Niki's thighs, letting her palm rest high on the inside of Niki's leg. She lightly scraped her fingernails over the black silk trousers and was rewarded with the barest flicker of muscles beneath her fingertips. She smiled to herself. Not so imperturbable after all.

Niki cut her gaze from the highway to Jenny, her blue eyes alight with fire. Flames that telegraphed her need. "Does it matter what I think?"

Jenny laughed. "I'm curious."

"Gray is not a safe place to sightsee."

"Don't you fear for your job? That if you annoy me I might have you replaced?"

Niki glanced back at the highway, her shoulder lifting in an insolent shrug. "I can think of a dozen reasons you might have me replaced. I thought you would prefer honesty."

"What I prefer," Jenny murmured, cupping Niki lightly, "is keeping you in my bed and by my side."

Niki hissed softly. "When I woke, I wanted you. The taste of you was all I could think of."

"And did you think of me while you were sating your hunger those first few minutes?"

"I didn't," Niki murmured. "I took enough from a blood slave whose name I don't even know to keep my sanity. Then I came for you."

"I love when you come to me hungry." Ordinarily she would have been irritated if a lover took satisfaction elsewhere. She did not share her possessions and wanted her lovers focused on her, and her alone. The reverse was not true, of course—she never allowed anyone to make a claim on her. But the idea of Niki feeding out of desperation while wanting her made her instantly wet. "I love when you bury yourself in me."

Niki smiled, slid one hand from the wheel, and covered Jenny's. Her skin was cool, smooth, and when she pressed Jenny's fingers to the cleft between her thighs, heat blossomed beneath Jenny's fingertips.

"Do you?" Niki murmured.

Suddenly Jenny was back in her bedroom, spread-eagled naked on her bed, arms extended and wrists tethered with silken ropes, thighs splayed around Niki's shoulders. Niki's mouth was on her, bright points of pleasure piercing her clitoris, tethering her as Niki fed and she came and came. Harder, longer, so intensely that every thought was wiped clean from the surface of her mind.

Jenny gasped, feeling as if she was unmoored, in danger of being dragged out to sea. Jerking upright, she looked around. Niki was just pulling into the parking lot of a building she would have passed without notice had she not known their destination. A single-story, flat-roofed, windowless building, painted matte black—some kind of abandoned warehouse, most likely. The enormous parking lot, despite being crowded with vehicles, was completely dark. No lighting, no valets, no visible security. No indication of any kind that this was the most popular Vampire club in the state. She was sitting in her seat, her hands in her lap. Her clitoris tingled, and she wondered if her orgasm had been remembered or real. She'd never experienced the Vampire thrall quite so blatantly, and if she hadn't been so excited by it, she might be angry. Niki took dangerous advantage, something she would have to deal with when the time was right. Jenny took a steadying breath.

"Do you feed here?"

"Sometimes." Niki stopped the car, turned off the engine, and swiveled on the seat. Scarlet completely eclipsed her brilliant blue irises. "But right now, all I want is you."

"Again?" Jenny purred, certain of herself once more. Niki might have momentarily enthralled her, but Niki was the prisoner of their passion, not she. She didn't need to feed to live. Her very existence wasn't tied to sex. Oh, she enjoyed sex—sex was very often the ultimate power, and never more true than when dealing with Vampires—but she could walk away. Any time she chose. But Niki, Niki would literally die without the blood exchange that was an integral part of Vampire sex. "Take me inside, and if you're hungry again, I might even feed you."

Niki ran her long, supple fingers through Jenny's hair, twisting one of the soft dark waves around her fingers. "You'll have many to choose from."

Jenny's nipples tightened. "Will I?"

"You're very beautiful." Niki leaned closer and kissed her, the tips of her incisors pressing into Jenny's lip.

Jenny's clitoris jumped and she opened her mouth to deepen the kiss. She heard a moan, realized it was hers, and steeled her mind to avoid losing herself completely to Niki's powers again. She pushed away with a hand on Niki's chest. She broke the kiss, but she couldn't escape the haunting vibration of Niki's heartbeat slowly drumming under her fingertips. Life—her blood had given Niki that. Her head swam with a rush of power so thrilling she almost cried out.

"I can taste your desire," Niki whispered against Jenny's mouth.

"You'll have to wait," Jenny said, keeping her voice even with effort. If she hadn't learned at an early age to contain her emotions with ironclad control, she could easily find herself completely helpless with Niki. But she'd had plenty of practice maintaining the upper hand with all kinds of adversaries—first her father, who had been so easy to manipulate once she'd gleaned his barely contained and quite unpaternal obsession with her, then the men and women she'd seduced and discarded as she'd climbed the professional ladder, and now those gullible ones, like Nicholas Gregory, whose egos prevented them from seeing she only allowed them to believe they were in charge. Vampires might be seductive and strong, but in the end they were still vulnerable to their needs. Unlike her. "I have business with your mistress first."

"Whatever you say." Niki settled into her seat.

"Be sure you remember that, my dear Niki." Jenny slid a hand behind Niki's head and tugged her closer, unwilling to let Niki dismiss her. She brushed her thumb over Niki's mouth, slowing to press the fleshy pad against Niki's incisor. Niki growled and Jenny laughed. "Now take me inside and let me see who I might want to play with tonight."

Marissa slowly tested the straps holding her to the stretcher as the vehicle bounced and rocked over the wild terrain, gauging the strength of the leather bindings. Her cubs were nearby—their heartbeats a constant refrain in the undercurrent of her awareness—but she couldn't see them. They didn't seem frightened, only wary, as she had taught them. But they were defenseless as long as she was a prisoner. The restraints across her bare chest and thighs were five inches wide and at least an inch thick. Even in her weakened state, she could snap them if she flexed her muscles hard enough, but the vehicle was filled with wolves, and the one watching her from a few feet away clearly wanted to kill her. She might not be able to immobilize all of them before they overpowered her, and this time there would be no second chance.

She knew the Brunette, the one who'd threatened her cubs, by reputation—the Alpha's second, Bo Dennis. The Pack imperator was reportedly as fierce as the Alpha, and she lived for the kill. Marissa looked forward to killing her for the threat she'd made to her cubs, but she'd need to choose her time carefully. She couldn't risk their lives by attempting an escape. Not yet.

Then there was the other one—the one she'd fought, the one not quite wolf but something else, something even more powerful—who knelt beside her, one hand steadying the stretcher. Alex, they called her. Alex didn't look at her with the same flat, deadly stare as Bo, but Marissa wasn't foolish enough to trust her, either. Any of them would kill her and her cubs without a second's regret if they thought she had nothing of value to offer.

If she couldn't escape, she might have to sacrifice everything she had left, but before that happened, she would fight. She hadn't ruled three hundred half-feral cats for over a decade by being lenient or afraid to risk her life. She ruled by cunning and might. But she hadn't had her cubs to think of, those times she'd defended her rule by tooth and claw. And because of them, for the first time in her life, she knew fear.

One thing a cat was born with was patience. She could lie motionless on a tree branch all day, waiting for a deer to amble into range, or hunker down in the grass and watch a flock of geese for hours, picking out the slowest. She'd wait to make her move, and in the meantime, she'd assess her enemy. Every enemy had a weakness.

And she was growing stronger by the second. Her wounds were healing—slowly, but more rapidly than they would have ordinarily without a shift. Something had broken inside her when Alex had dragged her down—she'd felt the blood filling her belly, known she was dying. Now the pain had receded, the pressure in her relenting. Alex had done something to her, something she'd never experienced before. When Alex had taken her throat, she should have died, but she'd dreamed of being free instead. She'd been fevered, like she'd been in heat, but she'd never burned like that before. She'd coupled when her body overruled all thought and reason, when the fire burning in her loins drove her to accept any available cat until the insanity released her. She hadn't taken a mate—she'd submit to no male, and none would submit to her. The females she might have wanted submitted too easily, and after a coupling or two, her interest disappeared along with the challenge. Coupling was a biological imperative, and pleasurable enough, but none of her Pride had ever ignited her the way Alex had. She wanted to ask what Alex had done to her, but not with the others around. Whatever had happened, it was something unusual, something she might be able to use to gain her freedom. She needed an ally, and she'd use anything at her disposal to gain one. She drew a breath and relaxed beneath the restraints.

"Thank you," she murmured.

"For what?" Alex replied just as softly. She'd pulled on pants, but her chest was bare, her small breasts a surprising softness against the chiseled muscles of her chest. Not a scratch marred her golden skin, even though Marissa knew she had scored her deeply.

"You saved my life."

Alex's eyes were azure again, a beautiful blueish green. The fire that had leapt in them when she'd loomed over her, before she'd brought her mouth to her neck, before she'd done whatever it was she'd done that filled her with such pleasure, was absent. The arrogance, though, remained. "I would have killed you if you hadn't claimed sanctuary."

"Would you?" Marissa said, taking a chance that she'd been right when she'd sensed the smallest bit of hesitation earlier. She'd been helpless, unable to fight any longer, and Alex had not struck the killing blow. Another wolf—probably any other wolf—would have. "Then I am in your debt."

Alex's eyes narrowed and her canines flashed against her full lower lip. "You may not think I've done you any favors before long."

"I know. Your Alpha may not be as merciful." She glanced at Bo, who leaned against the side of the vehicle, no weapon in sight, but claws and canines extended. Fury clouded the air around her. "She wants me dead."

"And if you found a wolf in your territory? Would you be any different?"

Marissa huffed. "Who knows what any of us might do now? The cats did not want the Exodus, but we were not consulted. Your Alpha spoke for all the Weres, but he did not ask us what we wanted."

"The cats have never been organized enough to have a voice."

"That's what you believe." Marissa sighed. "It's done now, and we all must live with the changes."

A shadow darkened the cerulean of Alex's eyes. "Yes. We all must live with change."

The pain in Marissa's chest flared, and she slid her hand over the one holding the stretcher. Despair, heavy and bleak, flooded through her. Alex's anguish struck at her heart and she blurted, "What have they done—"

Snarling, Alex jerked her hand away. Bo bounded forward and pressed a knife to Marissa's throat.

"Let me gut her and save everyone the trouble of listening to her lies."

Alex shouldered Bo aside, enraged at the threat to Marissa, furious at her own weakness. Somehow Marissa had glimpsed her shame. "Leave her alone. We don't kill helpless prisoners."

"She's a cat."

"I said leave her." Alex shoved her face into Bo's, her teeth bared.

Bo growled.

Lauren rose from her seat on the other side of the SUV. "She's not going anywhere and she's no threat. We'll be at the Compound in a minute." She edged over to Bo and stroked her abdomen. "The Alpha will want a report. Then you'll do what she orders."

Bo looped an arm around Lauren's shoulders and rubbed her cheek against Lauren's hair, her gaze still locked with Alex's. "This isn't done."

"Fine," Alex snarled.

Bo eased away and Alex knelt again. "You all right?"

"Yes." Marissa nodded in the direction of her cubs. "If I am executed, will you get my cubs to safety?"

Alex laughed. "Why would I do that?"

"They're innocent."

"Are they?" Alex stared at the two cubs, wrapped up in one another in the corner of the drawer, motionless, eyes a bit greener their mother's, wary and watchful. "Is anyone ever innocent?"

"You can have the pleasure of the kill yourself," Marissa said. "In exchange."

"You think you have something to bargain with. You don't. Your fate is no longer something you can control."

The lion who lived in Marissa's soul screamed in protest, ferocious and proud. Marissa growled, defiant, a dominant cat who would not be declawed.

Alex laughed again and traced a finger over the stark curve of Marissa's jaw. "If you fight back, you'll only bring more harm to yourself." She tilted her chin toward the drawer a few feet away. "And them."

"I'll kill anyone who touches them." Marissa's claws broke through her fingertips. Pelt shone over her torso. Even in the dim light of the Rover she was golden, a gorgeous animal.

"There's nothing you'll be able to do." Alex resisted the urge to stroke her. "You are a prisoner. You're going to have to accept that."

"Would you?" Marissa panted, struggling to subdue her beast.

Alex smiled grimly. "I already have."


	8. Chapter 7

__Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing about this story... the writing is all L.L. Raand's and the Characters are from various television shows (South of Nowhere, The O.C., Orange is the New Black, Lost Girl, The Fosters, and The L Word) Credit goes completely to all listed above.__

* * *

Madison sensed the commotion outside her boudoir and mentally transmitted her annoyance to Shane.

_Whatever it is, it can wait. _

Shane had been her _senechal_, her enforcer, for over eight centuries and should know better than anyone not to disturb her during her first feeding of the evening. The older she became, the less she had need of sleep, but more and more of late, when she awakened after even a few hours' somnolence, she was plagued by an inner hollowness, an ever-expanding void that threatened to consume her. Her hunger grew more ferocious with each passing week, assuaged by neither blood nor sex. No matter how many hosts she brought to her bed, or how much blood she consumed, or how many orgasms she incited in her blood donors or experienced during the depths of her bloodlust, she could not completely erase the foreboding that haunted her. And today she wanted to lose herself in the burning forgetfulness of bloodlust even more than usual. She needed to blunt her anger with pleasure. Today, she fed alone, and not by choice. Shane had been moody, withdrawn, since their visit to Ashley's Compound, but she steadfastly denied being troubled. She also denied her new and obvious predilection for feeding from young female Weres. This evening, when summoned, Shane had opted to feed upstairs in the club rather than with Madison, and she was undoubtedly sating her hunger with yet another Were.

Madison kept her incisors buried in the young Were's neck, ignoring Shane's rapid approach. She was far from satisfied, and the male sprawled beneath her, buried to the hilt inside her, was far from empty. His brown eyes were glazed with pleasure, his canines extruded, his rock-hard abdomen covered with soft, red-brown pelt. His cock was as rigid as his heavy jaw and nearly as immobile, the thickened core wedging him fast. She drew on his vein and felt him jet again. Her own orgasm flowed languorously, a continuous wave of release that grew stronger as her cells revitalized, drawing nourishment from his blood. She'd barely taken notice of him at the Compound, but when she'd caught his profile on the security camera at the entrance to the club, she'd known he was one of Ashley's soldiers and sent for him. She liked the idea of taking something Ashley would not want her to have. There was no edict against Ashley's Weres feeding Vampires—in fact, the number who visited Gray for exactly that reason seemed to be increasing—but Ashley would not approve of one close to her inner circle being so vulnerable.

He was enjoyable, but he would only be the first of the night. No Were, and certainly no human, male or female, came close to providing the raging rush of power an Alpha's blood carried. Ashley had never allowed Madison to bite her, but she'd allowed Madison to taste her, and that had been enough. Now Ashley had a mate and no longer needed anything Madison could provide, and all other Weres paled in comparison. This male had nowhere near the potency or power of his Alpha, but his stamina was admirable. As she fed, pulling deeper and harder at his throat, he emptied with powerful thrusts and showed no sign of slowing. She didn't worry about draining him as she might if he were human. He could shift and replenish himself within hours.

_I'm sorry, Regent_, Shane telegraphed. _I must speak with you. It's urgent. _

Madison withdrew from his neck, sealed the punctures, and sat back, still straddling him.

"Come in."

The ornate wood doors to her bedchamber swung open, and Shane slipped inside, pulling the doors shut behind her. The sitting room beyond was already prepared for Madison's bath and tea. Shane, rapier thin in black trousers, a black silk shirt open between her breasts, and gleaming knee-high black boots, surveyed the tableau on the bed. She was pale, and Madison suspected she had not fed much. Her emerald green eyes smoldered as she took in the stunned young male, the blood streaking his heaving chest, and the thick cock captured by Madison's slowly churning hips.

"What is it?" Madison questioned languidly, running her fingers through her hair and arching her back to lift her naked breasts. She cupped them and thumbed her nipples, a reminder to Shane of exactly what she had declined, sighing as another orgasm slowly climbed through her belly and spread outward. She smiled as waves of lust poured off Shane—after all these years, they were so attuned her orgasm would stir Shane no matter how strongly Shane barricaded herself.

Across the room, Shane's mouth tightened and her hands closed into fists. Her eyes flared crimson and her incisors glistened, but her finely carved features registered nothing. "Jenny Schecter is upstairs. I've ordered our soldiers to keep her away from the clientele, but she seems bent on hosting someone."

Madison threw back her head and laughed. "Really? And it only took Niki a few days. Jenny might have wanted you, darling, but she didn't resist Niki's charms for long. Is Clive with them?"

"No. He reported that Jenny dismissed him just before Niki arrived for her night duties. He's in the parking lot if we need him."

"Good. Tell him to wait."

Madison slid off the male beneath her and stood, ignoring his incoherent groan as his body spasmed at her sudden withdrawal. "And have someone move this to another room until he is recovered enough to leave."

"And Jenny?"

"Dr. Schecter is a very clever woman. She pretends to be our confidant, but her work in Isaac's secret lab suggests she wants to control, perhaps eradicate, the Weres." Madison drew on an ivory silk gown and tied it loosely at the waist. "She is human—and we are Praetern, like the Weres she regards as less than animals. Maybe she's here to spy for Isaac."

Shane laughed shortly, her burning gaze following Madison's every movement. "Not so very clever if she believes she can come into our territory and best us."

"Mmm." Madison slowly crossed to Shane and kissed her. Shane tensed and Madison scented her hunger. Tracing a sculpted fingernail down Shane's cheek, leaving a faint blood trail behind in the shallow cut, she murmured, "You should have joined me earlier, darling, we could have had so much fun. He was really quite tireless."

"I had business with some of my soldiers." Shane pulled Madison close and kissed her again, the wound on her face already closed. Her hand slid down Madison's back and over her ass. "Schecter is a high-profile scientist with a national presence. She will be hard to contain."

Madison tasted Shane's need, but the distance was still there. She rubbed against Shane until Shane's nipples hardened and her thighs tightened. Satisfied she'd gotten the response she wanted, Madison stepped away. "Dr. Schecter is in the unique position of being able to tell us what's going on in Isaac's laboratories, and Isaac's other plans as well. We lose nothing by allowing her to satisfy her curiosity here." She glanced at the Were, who had not yet emerged from his postorgasmic torpor. "But we need to keep her safe. She thinks she has control, and we should let her continue to think that. Send someone you trust to play with her. Someone who will be careful not to injure her."

"Will you speak to her?"

"If she requests an audience, yes. For now, let her believe she is in charge."

"I can send Henry."

"Yes, Henry would be a good choice and…Sasha. She can use the experience, and Schecter seems to like mixing her playmates."

Shane nodded. "As you wish, Regent." She turned for the door.

"And, Shane?"

Shane looked over her shoulder. "Yes?"

"I don't like you absent from my bed."

"Forgive me."

"Of course." Madison smiled, her incisors glinting like diamonds against her blood-red lips. "This time."

"We're almost there," Alex said as the stockade gates in the twelve-foot high fence surrounding the Compound swung open. Marissa growled, her pelt flaring and the musky scent of aggression pouring off her pheromone-drenched skin. The sound of Marissa's racing heart pounded in Alex's head, and her chest tightened. Centuries before the Vampire-Were wars, millennia before this new human threat, the cats and the wolves had fought for supremacy over the territory and game they all needed to survive. Now Marissa, an instinctual predator, was trapped and threatened by an age-old enemy, and her primitive drive to fight ruled her reason. "Cage your cat, Marissa. The Alpha will not make a hasty judgment, but you cannot fight her. None of us can."

Marissa panted, her claws extruded and her eyes narrowed to glimmering slits. "I will willingly serve you if you stand for us now. Anything…"

Alex wanted to say she already owned her, but she knew that was not true. Marissa was her captive, but she was no one's slave. The cat was afraid, not for herself but for the cubs, and willing to sell her soul for them. Alex remembered a time she had done the same for the one person whose life meant more than her own. Marissa's panic, and her bravery, reawakened Alex's protective instincts, but she resisted the urge to comfort her. Marissa and her cubs were not her responsibility, _could not be_ her responsibility. A Vampire owned what was left of her soul.

"I can't."

Marissa thrashed and the leather bindings creaked, the metal rivets securing them to the stretcher screeching in protest. Bo was beside them instantly, her automatic rifle trained on Marissa's chest. "Break one strap and you will never leave this vehicle."

The Rover slowed. Only seconds left. Alex's heart seized. If Marissa didn't submit, someone would hurt her. "Marissa—"

Lauren pushed between Alex and Bo and pressed her hand between Marissa's breasts, over her heart. "Marissa, it's all right. I'll look after them, I promise."

"Get away from her," Bo snapped. "She's dangerous."

"Bo," Lauren said quietly, brushing the damp hair from Marissa's face with her other hand, "she's helpless. I'm fine. Please, just…" She looked up at Bo, smiling gently. "She's no threat to me or anyone else. If she is, you'll take care of it."

Jaws rigid, Bo backed away. The Rover stopped, and Bo pushed open the rear door and leapt out into the Compound. Blazing fires lit the group of log and stone buildings that ringed a central courtyard carved out of the forest. Alex smelled Were, and the remnants of game left from the last meal, and home—she smelled home. The reflections of the fires filled the back of the vehicle with tongues of flame. The Alpha and her mate, flanked by the _centuri_, stalked from headquarters across the open expanse of ground. Alex edged between the stretcher and those outside.

Lauren said from behind her, "I'll stay with the cubs until the Alpha gives permission to take them to the nursery."

"They'll need to feed," Marissa said, her voice strained and rough. She'd started to shift and her cat still prowled near her skin.

"I'll talk to the Alpha," Lauren murmured.

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Lauren." Alex watched Bo reporting to the Alpha, her words inaudible but her body language angry. When she spun around to face the Rover, her face was contorted with fury. "Your mate seems to have other plans."

Alex jumped down, blocking the rear compartment as the Alpha and her party strode forward. She had no plan—she only knew she wasn't going to let them drag Marissa out and execute her, the laws be damned.

"Warlord," Ashley said, her eyes wolf-gold, her call so strong Alex struggled to stay standing. "It is customary to seek permission to enter Pack land."

"My apologies, Alpha," Alex gasped, fighting to keep her head up. She wouldn't look Ashley in the eye, but she would have to stand her ground if she hoped to keep Marissa safe. "I went for a run and meant no disrespect."

"Where did you find the cat?"

"At the northeast border with the Catamount territory."

"She was inside our borders?"

Alex tensed. She had never lied to the Alpha, and even considering it went against everything she had ever been. But she was not what she had been. All the same, she knew there was no way to hide where Marissa had birthed her cubs or where they had fought. "Not far inside, but yes, within Pack land."

Ashley glanced past Alex into the Rover, taking in the restrained female, the scent of aggression, and Lauren sitting next to the two cubs, her expression nearly as protective as that of the mother cat. She switched her attention back to Alex. "How is it she survived an encounter with you?"

Alex grinned. "She's fast and quick."

"And yet you overpowered her?"

"Yes, probably because she was weakened by the birth."

"And your estimate when she regains full strength?"

"She is an Alpha and powerful." Alex shrugged. "She'll be strong, but she's still a cat."

Ashley watched the flames flicker in the depths of Alex's eyes, sensing her wariness and something she hadn't expected—protectiveness. Alex had not killed the cat when she'd had every opportunity to do so. Any other wolf would have finished her. "Stef's on her way. You can wait for her at headquarters."

"I claim the cat as my prisoner," Alex said. "I want to be present when she is questioned."

Ashley growled softly. "I've given you more leeway than you deserve, Warlord. You trespassed on my land and now you stand for an enemy?"

"I claim the right to take part in her sentencing."

"My _imperator_ wants to challenge you for your disregard of Pack law."

"I'm ready," Alex snarled and Bo took a step forward, her canines flashing.

Ashley rumbled softly and brushed Alex's cheek with the backs of her fingers. Bo fell back. "I have not forgotten that you were once mine, and I have not released you from your oath to me, no matter that your first allegiance is to the Vampire. You are still my wolf, and as long as that is true, you are welcome on Pack land. But next time, let me know."

Alex shuddered as the heat and power of Ashley's touch raced through her. She leaned into the Alpha's hand and rubbed her cheek over her fingers. Some of the darkness in her heart receded. "Yes, Alpha. My word."

Ashley nodded. "Bo, Dasha, Jace—take the prisoner to the holding cells."

Alex stiffened. "Marissa says she has information—it would be wise to hear her out."

"Marissa," Ashley murmured as the _centuri_, armed with stun guns and a restraining collar, clamored into the Rover. "She was just coming into power during my mother's rule. I never met her, but my mother thought Marissa might bring order to the cats. And yet, here she is, running for her life."

"She's no coward." Alex trembled at the waves of fury pouring from the vehicle. Her wolf clawed and bit at her psyche, demanding she answer. She ignored the gut-wrenching urge, denying her wolf the claim she had no right to make.

Ashley watched the prisoner being dragged into the infirmary. "We'll find out soon enough what the cat is made of."


End file.
